Research Documentation and Final Project Reports

Research documentation

The Austrian Science Fund (FWF) is required to document the results and impact of the research it funds and to ensure that the funding it awards benefits the research community and society as a whole. To ensure more comprehensive long-term data collection and provide principal investigators with digital support for their reporting obligations, the FWF introduced the Researchfish research documentation system in 2019.

Researchfish is an online-based system that allows researchers to document the results and impact of their research projects and submit them to the FWF. Research results that have already been published are presented on the FWF’s Research Radar page.

First steps

Principal investigators are notified by email and provided with initial information about Researchfish and their reporting obligations. If they do not yet have access to the research documentation system, an automatically generated link with login data will be sent from admin(at)researchfish.com. Once created, the account includes all the principal investigator’s current FWF projects.

If you already have an account, you can use your existing login data to access the system and make entries. Please use the following link if you have forgotten your password or user name.

Technical assistance & support

Researchfish offers a wide range of support options:

If you have any questions that are not covered by these support options, or of you need to request a deadline extension for your Final Project Report, please contact the FWF directly (martina.kunzmann(at)fwf.ac.at).

Reporting

Principal investigators can make entries in the research documentation system at any time throughout the year, and the FWF requires researchers to update and transmit their reports on an annual basis. Research results from FWF-funded projects are presented on the FWF’s new Research Radar page to make them accessible to the public.

Annual Status Report

The principal investigators of ongoing projects are required to report published research results on an annual basis. For further information, please refer to the information on Annual Status Reports.

Final Project Report

After completion of the project, in addition to the research results, information on statistical and program-specific issues as well as any changes to the project as originally planned are also documented in Researchfish.

Guidelines

When writing your Final Project Report, please refer to the relevant guidelines for the applicable funding program.

Projects

Careers

Collaborations

Communication

Can the submission deadline for a Final Project Report be extended?

If the deadline specified by the FWF for submitting the Final Project Report cannot be met, the principal investigator must send a free-form request for an extension within a reasonable amount of time before the end of the deadline. In this case, please contact the FWF (martina.kunzmann(at)fwf.ac.at).

What happens if no Final Project Report is submitted?

If the Final Project Report is not submitted by the deadline set by the FWF or is not submitted in accordance with the guidelines, the FWF will send a reminder by email. If the report is still outstanding after expiration of the grace period set in the reminder email, a warning with a new deadline will be sent by registered letter. After expiration of this period, the FWF reserves the right to take the following measures:

  • Ascertainment of a violation of the Grant Agreement or the General Terms and Conditions of Grant Agreements
  • Ascertainment of a violation of the guidelines for good scientific practice (withholding of research results or insufficient documentation of research results)
  • Suspension of further funding payments for any ongoing projects
  • Immediate ban on applying to the FWF as a principal investigator, additionally for a further three years after submission of the complete Final Project Report
  • The FWF will consider reclaiming grant funds
Updates after completion of the project

The FWF requests annual updates to include subsequently published results for up to 5 years after the end of the project. 

Please note:

  • “Nothing to report” is also an option
  • All of the principal investigator’s completed FWF projects that are subject to the same reporting deadline must be submitted at the same time.

If no further results are to be expected, the FWF can be notified with a brief justification (martina.kunzmann(at)fwf.ac.at).

Inquiries and contact

Mag. Martina Kunzmann
martina.kunzmann(at)fwf.ac.at
+43 676 834 87 8608